


Trapped in a Nightmare

by Grelle



Category: Psycho Break - Fandom, Psycho Break 2, The Evil Within, The Evil Within (Video Game), The Evil Within 2 - Fandom
Genre: Angst, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, eventually happy ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-07-01
Packaged: 2020-05-12 00:30:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19217944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grelle/pseuds/Grelle
Summary: An alternate version of how the first game went where Ruvik meets a strange new subject in STEM who is willing to help him get Leslie and escape. But what starts as simply using the man to his advantage, turns into something more.





	1. Prologue: Delta

“Jasper Finnius Heartly. Twenty-eight years old, admitted by a friend after attempted suicide.” The man on the others side of the desk said, his voice calm and bored sounding as if he had read this file a million times before. “Your diagnosed with severe depression, suicidal tendencies, mild autism, and chronic insomnia.” He rattled off, but Jasper wasn’t really listening the brunette was staring around the room rather distractedly, taking in his environment. It was a habit when he was in uncomfortable situations, as was the motion of his fingers scratching at his arm. There were thick white bandages in his way, hiding the cuts on his forearms. 

He was about five foot and eight inches, wildly spiked dark brown hair that bordered close to being solid black, and hazel green eyes that looked weary and weak with the bags under them. The past week he had tried to kill himself, having lost everything he actually cared about and with it his will to live. His entire family was gone, both his children and his beloved husband taken from him. After he had recovered from the anemia his friend had sent him here to Beacon, having heard they had world renowned doctors and care.

So far he was doubting that claim, the place looked nice enough, sure, but the staff was...less than caring. He looked up when the doctor set the folder down, smiling at him. Only now did he read the man's name tag, ‘Jimenez’. “I think I have just the perfect program for you, come with me and we’ll get you signed in and changed into a nice, comfortable uniform hm?” Jasper already didn’t like the man, something about him just seemed very...wrong. But, then maybe it was just simply because he didn’t want to be there. Picking up his small bag he followed the man to a different part of the hospital to get checked in, getting a medical band put around his wrist with his name, age, blood type, and of course allergies. It was a blue band, no doubt meaning he was on watch for his ‘tendencies’.

The nurse behind the counter handed him the baggy, dingy white uniform. Though it looked dirty it at least was soft and smelled nice enough, he thought as he took them. He jerked back from the doctor a second later when he tried to take his bag, his panic obvious. The doctor offered a smile, “It’s alright, we just have to check some things in the bag. Your not allowed certain items for the first week or two, for your own safety.”

The brunette shook slightly as he hugged the bag, wanting to cry as he finally allowed the doctor to take it. He knew it he resisted too much the situation could get worse. Though he had never been to a mental hospital he had heard plenty of horror stories about them. In the past he had loved the aesthetic of old hospitals and asylums, some of his favorite haunted locations were abandoned hospitals after all. He never thought he would end up in one though. 

He watched Jimenez open the bag and take every item out as the nurse instructed him to remove his shoes, sense laces weren’t allowed he couldn’t keep his red converse. Jasper did as asked, though his eyes never left the contents of his bag or the doctor scrutinizing them. He handed a few things to the nurse, Jasper wanting to scream as he tried to pass the nurse the stuffed rabbit and childs blankets from his bag. “Please not those!? I-I need those...please…” The doctor looked at him a moment, before smiling a bit, “I am sorry but we can’t let you have these, they would put you at risk. We’ll give them back later, but for now they’ll be cataloged and safely put in storage for you.”

Jasper trembled, shaking his head, “Please please….I-I...Nononono~” He couldn’t help the tears or the whimper that left his throat, reaching to grab the items only to be grabbed himself by two large orderlies. He fought them as best he could at the moment, which sadly wasn’t much, he was still recovering from his anemia and weak from it. They dragged him crying down to his room at the end of a long white hallway, windows across from the doors. “Please try to calm down Mr. Heartly...I don’t want to be forced to medicate you.” 

In the end they did medicate him, knocking him out completely. Someone changed his clothes in his sleep too, so when he awoke later in the evening he was alone with nothing that was his own. He wasn’t even allowed sheets or a blanket to sleep, they thought he would choke himself with them and they were right in the mood he was in. After sobbing several hours he ended up in a corner, staring at the wall.

It must have been around midnight when Jasper finally fell asleep for a bit, sitting up still against the wall. The following day he was taken to therapy after breakfast, forced to talk about his ‘problems’. They got very little out of him, he just wasn’t willing to tell people he didn’t feel he could trust. And he certainly didn’t trust the therapist. Afterward he was taken to the dayroom to interact with other patients, though he kept mainly to himself, sitting in the wide seal of a barred window staring out at the empty gardens and the city beyond. He sighed softly and tucked his head into his knees, wanting to be alone instead of in a room of people. 

Jasper got his wish at last an hour later when the orderlies took him to his room, to no surprise he did not find his things and again ended up crying for hours before staring at the wall till he passed out. And so it went. Every single day the same for nearly a month. Often he asked about his things, but each time the nurses told him he wasn’t ready yet, though they would not explain why. As time went on he slept less and less until one night, sometime neary two or three o-clock he was alerted to something strange when his door opened suddenly. Swinging softly on its hinges till it was open six or so inches. Curious, heart racing, he slept from his bed to pad his bare feet across the floor to it. “Hello…?” He called out in a quiet voice, taking hold of the metal and pulling it farther open and sticking his head out into the moonlite hallway. He didn’t see anyone at first and slipped out, investigating it more, some of the other doors were open up and down the hallway. He saw no nurses or doctors or orderlies. No sign of anyone. But there was a smell, thick and heady. Familiar. 

He knew this smell because of his husband, having loved it so much. Some might have looked badly on it, but he himself had enjoyed it. His love of blood and drinking it, having shared it with him once and awhile when he wanted it. So used to this smell Jasper almost didn’t notice it, but when he did he felt his stomach twist and his heart thud with nerves and emotion. Missing that feeling of closeness with the other. Wanting his rabbit from storage so badly he could almost feel it in his arms.

As if all this was not enough to send him into another sobbing fit, he caught the sound of muttering, heart aching further at the familiar sound. “....Leslie…?” He mumbled in broken disbelief as he followed the sound, finding himself near the end of the hall where it was the loudest. The brunette approached the room, biting his lip, this had to be a dream right? There was no way it was HIS Leslie. One of his beloved husband’s alternate personalities. 

Pushing the door open he was disappointed to find it was indeed not his Leslie, but a boy with pale hair crouched on the floor near the back wall. Taking a shaky breath, Jasper all the same approached the stranger, smiling a little and kneeling down by the frightened boy. “Hey...It’s okay…”

“Scared. Scared. Help. Help. Danger. Danger. Danger.” He repeated as if like a broken record. The brunette nibbled his lower lip, sitting down by the boy and rubbing his back a bit like he used to do his Leslie, “I’ll help...what can I do?” He tried, wondering how much like Leslie this boy was. “Can you tell me your name?” 

The whitette lifted his head a little, unfolding himself a bit to look around the dark room, before ducking again with one hand tangled in his messy hair. The other stretched half toward Jasper, as if trying to show him something.

The brunette tilted his head a bit, noticing the boy’s wrist band and taking his hand gently, turning his wrist a bit to catch the light from the open door in order to read it. Almost choking as he read the name a loud, “Leslie...Withers?” The boy nodded and Jasper bit the inside of his mouth harshly, tasting blood, “It’s nice to meet you Leslie...I’m Jasper.” He introduced himself, gently tugging the boy to him, “Come on, let's go find the nurse huh?”

Jasper managed to get the boy to stand, he was halfway to the door when Leslie stopped, “Danger! Danger! Danger!” He said in an alarmed away, tugging Jasper back. The brunette looked back questioningly, “It’s okay I’ll protect you.” He said reassuringly, “Besides no one’s out...there….”

Hazel eyes widened as they caught sight of the shadow stretched up the wall, blocking the light in the door. His heart skipped a terrified beat, following the image along the floor and to the doorway, alighting on the tall figure of a hooded man. His image outlined by the overcast, morning light outside the windows in the hall. Jasper could make out very little of his face in the lighting, but he saw the scars on his hands and his feet, his clothes torn beyond repair around the edges. He could feel the danger rolling off him in waves, his mind screaming to try and run. But they were trapped in the room and this man was blocking the exit.


	2. Chapter 2

Jasper felt his heart racing in his chest, fear pounding through his body for the first time in months defeating the sorrow. He wasn’t scared for himself of course, but the boy behind him. He was innocent after all, probably had someone out there who would miss him the same way he missed his family. The brunette put an arm out, shielding the younger man with his body, eyes scared by determined. 

The man in the doorway didn’t move,  at least not toward him. Instead he backed out of the room and looked down the hallway, toward the hospital’s main area. Jasper could hear policemen yelling, jumping at the gunshots that followed and watching in astonishment as the hooded man seemed to literally vanish a second to dodge them. It looked like a video game glitching out. Jasper rushed to the door to look, amazed more than anything. And for only a second he glimpsed the mans face, the scars across his chest where the cloak was open, the ones on his features as his eyes met that of the twenty-eight year old. There was something chilling about them, a burning fire of hatred, but something more to them than that. The golden hue held intelligence, curiosity, and...deep sorrow.

And then he was gone, flashing down the hallway and killing the officers in single, quick blows. Jasper’s breath caught as he watched the man blatantly murder three people, their blood splashing across the tiled floor. The man seemed to look at the security camera a minute and the next he was just gone. Leaving silence and the smell of fresh blood behind.

Several minutes passed before Jasper noticed Leslie’s panicked mumbles behind him, taking a deep breath and reaching back to take his arm. They couldn’t stay there. He pulled the albino boy with him toward the main hall, hoping to find more officers or at least someone else to help. Walking around the pools of blood to reach the double doors to the reception area, stopping short when he saw the mess. Everyone was dead, corpses and blood everywhere. The brunette choked on the smell, swallowing hard not to throw up last nights dinner. “C-come on Leslie, this way…” He murmured, trying not to let his voice shake. Had that man from before done this? It seemed so surreal. All of it.

None of this seemed possible. His abilities seemed unreal. What was even happening? Had he fallen asleep and this was some weird nightmare? Or maybe he had died and this was his hell? There was only one way to figure it out of course. He pulled Leslie with him toward the storage room, rattling the locked door and pouting. Even the window the nurse stood behind was locked tight with one of those metal gates. He had no idea how to break in! He needed his shoes and his things! Determined not to leave without them.

“Open now…” Leslie said suddenly, making the brunette look up from where he had been glaring at the floor and their bloody footprints. “Huh?” His eyes were wide and excited a second later as he moved to the door and went in, pulling Leslie with him, not noticing anything strange about him. Not noticing the lack of twitching and mumbling. No, he was unaware as the whitette stared at him with narrowed eyes, watching as he searched for his backpack and shoes. 

Jasper scrutinized the contents to be certain everything was inside, letting out a sigh of relief as he slipped the strap of the courier bag over his shoulder. Kneeling down he slipped on his shoes, tying them and turning to Leslie who ducked his head and fidgeted. “We should get you some shoes too…” He mumbled, looking around for anything with the younger mans name on it. 

“What are you two doing in here?!” Jasper jumped, letting out a shocked sound as he whipped around to see Jimenez in the door. This was the first he had seen the man since he arrived at Beacon. “Oh, nevermind, come, quickly now!” He said, grabbing Leslie and putting an arm around his shoulders to lead him out. Jasper didn’t want to follow, he got the strangest nagging feeling not to and an even stronger protective urge over Leslie when the man touched him. He saw the whitette shaking when he did. But without knowing what else to do he did as he was told, following the man down another hallway, passed more corpses and out into a parking garage. There was an ambulance waiting for them there with an officer at the wheel, “Hurry!” The man called and waved them over. 

Jasper climbed into the back with the other two, a woman already on board that he did not recognize nor talk to. He kept his eyes on Jimenez, pushing his bag farther behind him in hopes he would not try to take it. But the doctors focus seemed to mainly be on Leslie at the moment. They pulled out of the garage, the officer speeding around to the front of the building. The brunette let out a frightened noise when he felt what he thought was them hitting something, only to realize, when they stopped, it was an earthquake. 

‘What the hell is fucking happening right now?’ His mind screamed as he pulled his knees to his chest and curled up in a ball right there, a panic attack setting in as he grabbed at his short hair and whimpered. They started to speed away, the ambulance almost falling into a bit of the collapsing earth, Leslie letting out a distressed noise as they sped down the road. After awhile the ride seemed to settled out, Jasper rocking a little as he tried to calm down. Desperately wanting to pull out one of his blankets or even the stuffed rabbit to hug, but resisting in case Jimenez noticed and tried to take them. 

“Leslie, please calm down.” Jimenez was saying to the younger man, one of the officer’s calling out and asking if everyone was okay. The woman replying, “We’re fine, just a few bumps is all.” She said, smiling a little at Jasper who looked away from her. “Once we’re far away we’ll be fine.” Jimenez said in a reassuring sort of way, though it sounded like he was reassuring himself and not those around him.

“Fine...fine…” 

Jasper lifted his head, freezing when he saw the man from before. He was there only a few seconds, such a short time the brunette thought he imagined it. And then Leslie was shouting ‘Fall!’ The ambulance swerving, causing them to topple. Jasper hitting the floor hard, grabbing his head and curling up. And then they were falling. His body weightless a moment before the world went black.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -Note [Scrawled in shaky cursive.]: “This new subject is unusual, I’m labeling this one as Delta. Seems to have a lot of conflicting qualities. He to want to survive, yet also has a powerful urge to put himself in danger. His file mentioned ‘Suicidal Tendencies and severe Depression’, it shows. But it’s as if his mind is confused about what it really wants. I’m curious to see if he’ll even survive here or end up a Lost like many others, I regret that I won’t have long to study his behavior, but I’ll do what I can for as long as possible.”

Jasper groaned softly, his head pounding and body aching badly as he opened his eyes. Blinking a few times to clear his vision. The first thing to greet him was the dirt and grass he was laying on. The second? A burning ambulance that lay upside down. Choking, his eyes went wide as he forced himself off the ground, “LESLIE!?”

Rushing the vehicle he fought the burning heat, ignoring the pain that bloomed in his hands as he wrestled the back doors open farther, seeing no on in the back. He relaxed only marginally as he looked around the immediate area. It was dark out, to his confusion. How long had he even been out? He didn’t see anyone around. 

Shakily he checked the area for something he could use as a light, braving the flames to check the ambulance for a small medical kit and discovering a flashlight with it. Tucking them in his bag once they were a little cooler after shaking them a bit. Again, he ignored the pain in his hands. Knowing full well he had burned them, but not caring. Turning on the flashlight he went in search of Leslie, trekking nervously into the dark woods. One of his fears was the forest at nighttime. Too many horror movies to enjoy a stroll in the woods at night and given what he had witnessed that morning? It made it so much worse.

Taking a shaky breath he tried calling out for Leslie, though he got no answer, trying again a few more times. He let out a muffled scream of terror when someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him behind an overturned cart, “Relax! Relax! I’m a detective, I’m not going to hurt you!” The man hissed in his ear, letting go a few minutes later. Jasper moving away from him quickly all the same, curling up for a few minutes in a terrified ball. “Wh-why the hell did you grab me like that?!” He whisper screamed back, getting the feeling yelling was not a good idea. And the detective’s answer solidified this belief. The raven haired man made a shushing motion with his finger to his lips, before pointing around the cart. 

Jasper leaned around, spotting a small shed with alight by its door. A man was standing there beating on it. The man's appearance alarmed and confused the brunette further than he already was sense that morning. He was wrapped in barbwire and coated in blood, clad in torn clothes. He should not have even been able to move! “What...the...fuck….?” The man whispered, “This...this can’t be happening? Have I...Have I lost my mind?” He muttered as he leaned back on the wooden cart.

The detective shook his head, “If you have then I have. What’s your name?” 

“Jasper Heartly…” The younger man replied after a few minutes of deciding whether to trust this man or not, police officer or otherwise he wasn’t sure about him at all.  For now he deemed him trustworthy enough for at least his name, if nothing more. And the man was armed, maybe he could provide him with protection at least till he found Leslie.

“Jasper. I’m Sebastian Castellanos, I work at the KCPD...you must be a patient at Beacon right? I’ll try to help you get to a hospital alright?” Jasper didn’t answer, looking off to the side. He followed the detective as he snuck up on the man, watching him take the guy out before the slipped into the shed. It was empty, mostly. Jasper spotted a wooden axe, which he picked up to arm himself with. Out the back window he spotted Leslie stumbling away, heartbeat speeding up. “Leslie!” The brunette lunged out the window past the detective, running through the stretch of grassy field in an attempt to reach the whitette. Coming around a corner he found an open iron gate, shoving through it thoughtlessly, “Leslie?!” 

The brunette stopped, looking around, trying to figure out which way the other man had gone. Behind him Sebastian approached, passing him when someone came out of one of the houses that sat near them, “Excuse me, we’re not from around here. Could you tell us...what?”

The man shambled forward, letting out a raspy voice, “...can’t go on…” The man groaned, stopping and looking forward. Jasper looked over to see what he was staring at, spotting...was that Beacon? He watched as the light in the tower came around toward them, a loud, high pitched noise filling his head to a painful point. “A-ah!” He grabbed his head, squeezing his eyes shut. The pain seemed to radiate through him, feeling doubled in his arms beneath the sleeves of his hospital uniform. “Make it stop! Make it stop!” He cried out, rushing through the dark blindly trying to escape the sound and the pain. 

His head was pounding badly by the time he stumbled across a stone bridge, panting as he fell to his knees shaking and trying to catch his breath. He wasn’t even sure how long or far he had run. Jasper lifted his eyes when he head something that sounding like a gurgled growl or groan, freezing when he saw one of those things shambling toward him. Like the man at the shed he was covered in barbed wire and had nails jutting out of him, his head split open. He was carrying a torch and coming right at the brunette.

Jasper’s heart was racing as he looked up at the man, would he kill him? He seemed like he was planning on it was he raised the torch and brought it down toward him. The brunette just watched, ready to let it happen. Death would be a release from the pain, right? He would be free to see him after that. But just as he was about to accept his demise he spotted someone in white in the distance, near the gates of what looked to be a village across the bridge. “LESLIE?!” And all at once he wasn’t ready again. Leslie was alone, he wasn’t safe. He needed him, right? Someone needed him. 

The brunette lifted his arms to protect himself from most or the damage, gritting his teeth against the bruising blow and pushing off the ground the shoulder tackle the man down. Running past him, he chased after Leslie into the village, losing sight of him soon enough and letting out a frustrated and worried sound. “Shit..he’s going to get hurt if I don’t find him soon…” Jasper mumbled as he patted down the small area where his arms had caught fire, hissing a bit at the burns they caused his fingers. His arms under the sleeves only mildly singed and the sleeves themselves seemed to have held up well.

He looked back, realising only then he had dropped the bat he had picked up earlier. Jasper was unarmed again. ‘Great...that’s no good.’ He thought, looking around at the buildings near him. Maybe he could use something inside? They all looked abandoned and crumbling anyway, surely no one would mind? The brunette wandered over to the building on his right, pushing open the aged wooden door and looked around the interior. There were a few candles and lanterns here and there to light the interior, but otherwise it was dark inside. Pulling out his flashlight he flipped it on and searched the main floor, finding nothing of use and nearly losing it when he saw a bunch of roaches scatter. 

Spiders. Snakes. He could handle those. But the roaches? No. Never. He had severe Katsaridaphobia and seeing them nearly drew a scream out of him. As it was he darted up to the second floor, shuddering. “...no...no...nope…” As luck would have it someone was on the second floor, shuffling in small circles. “...help...help...help…”

Jasper smiled with relief, “Leslie...I’ve been looking all over for you!” He said, walking over to the whitette, noticing his hands were scraped and bleeding a little. “Your hurt…” The taller man mumbled, pulling the medical kit from his back and retrieving a cleansing pad and some gauze. Gently he took Leslie’s hands and started cleaning the dirt and blood away, “...hurts...hurts…”

“I know...I’m almost done though okay?” The brunette smiled sweetly, wrapping the whitette’s hands up neatly. “There. All better! Now we should really find help and-Ah?!” Leslie backed away from him, looking at something past him, “Danger! Danger!” He cried, rushing to the back of the room. Jasper whipped his head around to see a woman, head wrapped in barbed wire, some of it even coming out of her eye. The other eye glowing white. He spotted more of those things on the stairs, coming toward them. “Leslie run!” He yelled as he blocked their path, grabbing a small chair and throwing it at the nearest one. Successfully knocking it down. Leslie managed to get through the other exit in the room, a door the elder had not noticed before.

The creatures made various guttural noises as they rushed at him. Jasper turned and rushed for the door, heart racing as he threw it shut behind him and held it closed, those things beating against it. He didn’t see Leslie around and prayed the other managed to escape. When the beating and growling on the other side of the door stopped the brunette risked moving, crawling away quietly before standing and crossing the small bridge like structure that connected the two buildings, moving toward the balcony to get a better look at the area and a possible escape route. In the distance he spotted another set of gates, Leslie rushed through them. For now he seemed to be safe. But those things were all over the place.

‘I’m still not armed...what should I do…?’ Jasper thought, crouching down by the railing and groaning a little, this was bad. Really. Really bad. He was just standing up when someone spoke, making him jump and let out a frightened squeak. Jimenez was right behind him! Literally not a foot away, but was looking at the detective. They were conversing about the situation.

“...my patient Leslie, I saw him running ahead. But we have a problem.”

“What?”

“Come look.” Jimenez lead Sebastian to the railing, the raven haired policeman looking at Jasper oddly a moment before looking to see what the doctor was referring too. “He ran through there. That is our only exit it seems.” Just as he said this the gate slammed shut. Jasper paled, “Fuck...how do we get through now?” He mumbled.

“There’s too many of those things to shoot our way through.” Sebastian pointed out with a deep frown, crossing his arms. Jimenez had this odd smile on his face as he said, “One of us will have to distract them while the other opens the gate.” The doctor paused, “You have the gun after all.”

Jasper made a face at this, glancing down at the many creatures wandering around with a deep frown. The next thing he realized was Jimenez rushing through them yelling ‘over here’! Drawing most them with him into a building across the way. The brunette tilted his head, thinking the man was either brave or very stupid. Turning, he started to go into the next building, planning to try and help Sebastian open the gate. The detective grabbed his shoulder, making him jerk away and look at him with a slightly frightened look. “That Jimenez guy...do you trust him?” 

Jasper drew his arms up around himself, glancing to the building the man had gone. Thinking over his answer. “No...not really.” He replied at length, “He was the doctor who admitted me to Beacon...but I never saw him afterward till this morning...Something about him is...off to me.” Sebastian nodded, heading into the other building, “Wait here, it’s safer.”

The brunette pursed his lips, ‘The hell I’m waiting here...I need to get that gate open and reach Leslie before Jimenez gets his grimy hands on the kid.’ He thought, deciding to head a different way. He spotted an axe leaning against the wall and grabbed it, walking to the edge of the railing on the darkest side, glancing over to see Sebastian crouched near a cart in the courtyard of these buildings. Nearest himself was a barn, maybe something in there could help them? He glanced over the rail, it wasn’t that far down so he jumped to the ground. Landing in a crouch, he moved to the building quietly, sneaking up the stairs and inside, freezing when he heard loud growls and the rattle of chains. ‘Shit...what was that?’ He wondered, getting inside and moving as silent as he could to the edge of the railing.

From here he spotted this huge guy wearing bloody clothes and a metal mask that wrapped around his head and covered his mouth. He was the one chained and trying desperately to get free. Something in with him drew Jasper attention however. 

A chainsaw.

‘I bet that could cut through the gate chains…’ The brunette bit his lip, wondering if he could get in and get it or not. ‘I have to try…’ Glancing around he spotted a ladder, moving down to the first floor he cautiously approached the enclosure. Slipping through an opening in the wooden walls, keeping a wary eye on the growling man. 

The brunette froze when he man spotted him, both of them staring at each other in silence. It was like the guy didn’t know how to feel about Jasper being in there. And unlike the other creatures he had run into this one didn’t seem to give off the same instant animosity they did toward him. He seemed almost...calm. Jasper swallowed thickly, glancing at the chainsaw, “Hey big guy...uh...mind if I borrow that?” He said to the creature, “I just need to open that get outside so I can help my friend…” 

Jasper offered the being a smile, reaching for the chainsaw. He almost had it when he heard someone enter the barn, freezing as he thought it was one of the other zombie like people out there. It turned out to be Sebastian. The large man in the enclosure with Jasper let out a feral sound, yanking hard enough at the chains to break them. The brunette felt his heart stop a moment, sure the thing was going to kill him now as he had nowhere to escape. ‘Oh...fuck…’ 

The thing lunged at him, but instead of attacking him just grabbed the chainsaw and slashed open the wooden wall between it and Sebastian before chasing the man down. Jasper sat there on the straw floor, blinking in confusion, “What...the hell?” After a few minutes he shakily got to his feet, hearing gunshots outside and wincing as he hoped the detective was okay, because honestly, he might not trust him, but no one deserves death by chainsaw massacre maniac Sadist guy.

There was a loud explosion that caused the brunette to flinch, ducking down with a loud shout, hazel green eyes wide. His heart pounding as he moved out of the barn, spotting Sebastian fighting off a group of those things on top of the Sadist. Mumbling a ‘good luck’ in the detective’s direction he slipped across the courtyard, deciding to check other buildings for weapons, he needed something to protect himself with!

He crawled through the broken window of the house Jimenez had run into earlier, looking around and listening carefully to be sure he was alone or at least didn’t have those things nearby. Coming into what looked to be a decrepit kitchen, he noticed first it was warmer in here thanks to the fire and the fact he was actually pretty cold. Jasper hadn’t really realized earlier how cold it was out there, like it was the dead of winter in Michigan and he knew better because it was supposed to be summer right now. It was after moving closer to the fire, shivering and trying to warm back up, that he spotted a knife stabbed into the wood table near him. 

‘Perfect!’ The brunette thought, making his way over and tugging it free of the wood after a few tries. Smiling as he looked over the sharp blade of the large kitchen knife. He flinched when something above him more, crouching back down. ‘Is that Jimenez?’ He wondered, slowly making for the stairs and deciding to go check. Slipping up the stairs, he looked around, finding only a hanging corpse of someone who had killed themselves. ‘Poor bastard probably didn’t want to end up a monster like the others…’ Jasper thought sadly, looking around the room more he found an old recording device. “Hm?” He tilted his head curiously, pushing the play button. 

A deep male voice filled the air, “Experiment number four, subjects four through thirteen: Brain wave activity diminished but synchronization achieved. Subjects should begin to experience a shared consciousness. Previous trials indicated rapid deterioration of consciousness. Their minds became an exquisite mass, an amalgam of mental carrion. I’ll have to connect myself if I want to experience their fear before it diminishes.” The recorder clicked and stopped, the room again falling into stagnant silence beyond the noise outside. Jasper was left pondering the words, he didn’t really understand what the man must have been trying to achieve, but it did sound pretty fascinating. And he had a very attractive voice. Mulling it over a few minutes, he slipped the recorder and its message into his bag for safe keeping.

When the noise outside ceased, Jasper peeked out the window nearest him, moving the ratty curtains aside to see better. The detective had defeated the monsters at least and was picking up the chainsaw. The brunette started out of the room, jumping when he heard a thud behind him and whipping around with the knife held in a defensive position in front of him. Jimenez raised his hands in a form of peace, “It’s alright Mr. Heartly, calm down.” He said in that doctorly ‘soothing’ manner, coming toward him, “Why don’t you let me take that and-”

“And leave myself defensless, I think fucking not doc.” Jasper bite out angrily, backing toward the door, “Find your own weapon.” Jimenez made a nervous laughing sound, “Now now, it’s nothing like that. I just don’t want you harming yourself.” Jasper raised a brow at the argument, “If I was interested in getting hurt or dying right now I wouldn’t bother with the knife. There’s plenty of those things out there wanting me dead.” He replied as he turned and rushed down the stairs, Sebastian had revved the chainsaw and the gate had just opened with a loud thud. “Wait for me!”

Sebastian turned, waiting on Jasper to catch up. They started out the gate when Jimenez called out, running toward them. “Officer, please! Take me with you? I need to find my other patient, Leslie. He needs help, he can’t care for himself and in this situation he needs me more than ever!” 

The brunette narrowed his eyes, backing away as they conversed, ‘I’m going to find him first. Maybe then I can get him away from that guy…’ He thought, looking around the area he found himself in now. It looked to be a large house and a couple smaller ones. He spotted Leslie in the distance, breathing a sigh of relief as he started to run toward him. But something, rather someone, literally appeared in front of him.

The cloaked man seemed to loom over him, though he was likely only five ten to his five eight. His golden hued eyes stared at him with this contemplative look, like he was debating something in his mind that was of extreme importance. Jasper swallowed thickly, this time the man didn’t seem like he wanted to murder him at least. Though last time the dangerous feeling might have been more directed at those cops than himself. It was only now that the brunette took note of the scars, wincing inwardly, ‘What could have happened to this poor man to end up like this?’ 

“Um...do-do you need help maybe?” Jasper asked at last, hoping maybe he could do something. The man seemed like he might need it. Before he could answer the shorter caught the sound of Jimenez and Sebastian talking, voices drawing closer. The hooded man narrowed his eyes, glaring over the brunette’s shoulder at Jimenez. Hazel green eyes turned back to the scared man, “I don’t like him either...something about him seems wrong. And he clearly makes poor Leslie nervous.”

The taller man stared at him again with that thoughtful look, he never spoke, looking back at the same time Leslie let out a terrified shout and rushed into one of the houses. “Shit.” Jasper cursed, rushing past the man, “Come on! I’ll keep you safe, but Leslie needs help!” He said, looking back at the man, but he was already gone. The brunette didn’t stop to figure out where he went, spotting Jimenez coming that way as well and running to get into the house ahead of him. Slamming the door on him and purposely knocking some things into his path to slow him down.

Down in the basement he found the albino man alone, pacing in circles in the back, shaking and mumbling about it being ‘not safe’. “Leslie? Hey, hey it’s okay. I’m here now!” He told the whitette in a soothing voice, gently holding the smaller man to him. Looking around them, but not seeing anyone there. “We’re alone, for now. Come on, let’s get you out of here okay?” But before he could coax him away, Jimenez appeared running up to them and more or less pushing Jasper aside. “Leslie! Are you hurt?” Leslie tried to fight him off, reaching for Jasper’s help, “Doctor Jimenez is here. Calm down!”

Jasper growled a bit, but let it go for the moment when he heard something shuffling around the room. Problem was he didn’t see anyone there. Sebastian appeared a little after this, but it wasn’t him who made that noise. The brunette took a defensive stance, “Something’s in here!” He hissed at the detective, scanning everything in the room to find the movement. And then he found it just as it lunged for Sebastian, “LOOK OUT!” The brunette cried, rushing at the thing, thankfully tripping just as the older man fired his gun. Narrowly missing being shot. ‘Fuck!’ 

The raven detective took the monster out soon enough, helping the brunette off the dirty floor. The younger man blushing a little, “That’s embarrassing…” Jasper muttered as the elder talked to the doctor he was guiding Leslie from the room. ‘Oh hell no you don’t…’ The brunette followed closely, narrowing his eyes on Jimenez. He watched him closely as they went back down the hall to the basement stairs...only the stairs were missing when they got there. It was just a blank wall. “What…? How?” Jasper asked aloud with wide eyes, putting his hand to the surface as if he thought he could pass through, patting it a few times. “The stairs are gone…” Jimenez mumbled in astonishment, wide eyed as he looked at the blank wall. “That. Or we’re collectively losing our minds.”

“...losing our minds...losing our minds…” Leslie muttered, before lifting his head and shouting, “LOSING OUR MINDS!! LOSING OUR MINDS!!!” There was a slight high pitched noise, though it wasn’t as painful as at the shore earlier. Jasper turned, feeling a new presence. “Oh god...no…” Jimenez said in a slightly shaking voice, “Ruvik...it is you…!”

The brunette looked down the hall, following the doctor’s gaze to find the hooded man with the scars. ‘Ruvik…?’ Leslie let our a scream, crouching down and grabbing his head in a semblance of fear or pain. Jasper turning to put a hand on his back, “It’s okay Leslie...it’s going to be okay, I promise.” The brunette said in a soft voice, shooting a glare at Jimenez and then looking back at this Ruvik as he turned and walked away. “Don’t follow.” The doctor said to Sebastian who started toward the man. ‘Why?’ Jasper looked at Jimenez, then Leslie in thought. Making a likely foolish split decision, he grabbed the whitette’s arm and yanked him up and out of Jimenez’s hold, pulling him quickly down the hall.

The world seemed to pulse as Sebastian and the doctor cried out for him to stop, the hall suddenly becoming longer, Ruvik farther away than he should be. “Wait!” The brunette called, the man vanishing and in his wake a massive wave of blood rushed down the hall toward them. Jasper skidded to a stop, ‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!’ He thought turning and pulling poor Leslie who stumbled. Spotting a door halfway between him and Where Sebastian was running toward them. Grabbing the handle, he pushed Leslie through, intending to follow, but was swept away by the red tide. 

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -note 2 [Scrawled in shaky cursive.]: “Leslie seems very drawn to Subject Delta, perhaps because of his empathy or his offer of ‘friendship’? The Lost are attracted to him as well, some seem docile when around him while others seem almost twice as hostile. Perhaps I can use Delta to my advantage then? He seems strong enough to withstand becoming Lost himself and able enough to protect Leslie for me whilst I try to weed out the Mobius operatives in STEM. Maybe I could convince him to bring Leslie to me…?”

And then he was falling for all of two minutes, landing in a pool of the stuff he came up sputtering. Choking on the foul flavor, he gasped for air, quickly making his way to the edge of the reservoir of vesera and gore. Climbing out and laying a moment on the concrete, he was joined several minutes later by Sebastian. “Why the hell did you do that?!” Sebastian shouted at him, making him flinch a little. The brunette getting up and moving away from him with wide eyes, suddenly terrified of the man. “Because I don’t trust anything Jimenez says or does and if you’re smart you won’t either!” Jasper yelled at the detective, “Leslie is clearly frightened of him.”

“And that Ruvik guy doesn’t look frightening to you?!”

“You can’t judge someone by their looks detective, you should know that in your line of work.” He shivered at the chill in the air, looking around and spotting the door. “I’m going to go find Leslie, you can either come with me or for all I care fucking get screwed over by that stupid mad doctor!” Turning he jumped across a gap to a walkway leading to the door along the side of the room, ducking when he spotted a wire across his path. Sebastian said nothing more as he followed, though he was clearly still pretty angry. 

Jasper had just reached the door, was about to open it when what looked like a cloud of over sized blood cells swirled up in front of him. Backing away in fear, he watched wide eyed as it formed Ruvik. The raven wasn’t afraid, just surprised as he watched him. The man turned angry goldened eyes on the detective. From the pool came groans and when Jasper looked back those zombies were rising from it. There was a metallic sound behind him, he whipped his head to look. Ruvik was gone. But on the ground where he had been was the kitchen knife the brunette had dropped when he had need to open the door to save Leslie. Grabbing it, he turned in time to jump back and dodge a man with a small sickle in his hand. 

The brunette rushed the man, shoving the knife in his gut and jerking it upward and back out before slashing horizontally to slice his neck open. The man dropped like a stone with a small gargle. Most of the creatures seemed more interested in the detective and honestly Jasper was in no mood to help the grisled police officer. So he waited by the door, which seemed to be covered in a fleshy blite of some kind, choosing not to question it. ‘This place is like a gruesome wonderland of gore and mayhem…’

Once the last zombie was down the blite melted away so he could pass, which he did without waiting on the detective. He followed a long hallway, stopping to check a door, but it was locked so he moved on. At the end of the hall he found a dead in, cursing a little. The only thing he was a corpse in a pool of blood. ‘Great, now where do I go?’ He wondered, Sebastian’s footsteps approaching. He looked back at the man and started out the door passed him, intending to go and try breaking that other door down if he had to. 

There was a feral scream that made the brunette freeze, flinching and almost curling in on himself at the sudden loudness. Looking back was a terrible idea as he saw the detective running toward him, away from this horrifying thing with long black hair and four arms with long wicked claws. Jasper went pale, stumbling back before turning to run. His heart raced in fear, the door they had come through was gone and the remaining one locked. ‘I DON’T WANT TO DIE LIKE THIS!’ His mind screamed as he reached the locked door, fighting with the handle, “FUCK! COME ON! OPEN!!!!” He felt frightened tears pricking his eyes.

The door burst open, almost knocking him down, a zombie stumbling out. For a moment the monster lady was distracted, grabbing and FEASTED on the zombie. Jasper and Sebastian rushed through the door, almost tripping on each other. The detective helping the brunette back up and pushing him forward, “RUN!”

“NO SHIT!” Jasper stumbled into what looked to be a dead end, looking around quickly, he spotted a red button. Noticing the gate for the door, he ran for the button, “Hurry!” He cried to the raven, hitting the button just in time to stop that thing. It shrieked and beat at the metal. The brunette held his chest, panting, wheezing slightly. ‘Fuck! Not now...this is not the time for an asthma attack!’ To his left he spotted a ladder descending into the floor, stumbling over to it and climbing down as fast as he could. Below was another hallway, an elevator at the end. He ran as fast as he could manage, struggling to keep breath, ducking under more traps. Sebastian close behind him. “Come on! She’s right behind us!”

Jasper couldn’t even reply, he felt faint, head dizzy as he slammed into the back wall of the elevator. The doors sliding shut and taking them farther down. The doors opened into another hallway and they didn’t have time to think, the corpse, that both failed to notice started shuddering. The creature coming OUT of it. Jasper choked, stumbling down the hallway as fast as he could manage, the gate at the doorway he was heading toward starting to close. Sebastian managed to roll underneath, crouching and holding his hand out for the brunette. Jasper fell, unable to even pant, his throat was closing up. ‘Fuck...that things going to eat me alive…’ He thought as the gate slammed shut, the sound eaching in his mind as if he was underwater. 

Everything went black.

* * *

 

Something swirled up between the brunette and the creature rushing down the hall toward him, Ruvik appearing there, narrowing his eyes at the thing, raising his hand at her. A pulse traveling down the hallway and then she was gone, dropped somewhere else for the detective to run into later. The hooded man turned to look at the brunette on the floor, his expression thoughtful. Those swirling cells picking up around the brunette, taking him too somewhere else. Ruvik target Sebastian next, sending him elsewhere in the hospital in a much rougher manner, taking the stairs out from under him.

It was probably hours later that Jasper awoke, his throat still felt tight, but he was breathing at least a little better. Groggily opening his eyes and looking around the room he was in. He found himself in a nice four poster bed, the curtains drawn tight. Slowly he sat up, moving to climb out of the bed and opening the curtains. The room was large, the furnishings rich wood and fine velvet and silk. Clearly whoever owned the house had money. Instantly Jasper didn’t feel comfortable being there, like he wasn’t worthy to touch anything that might have cost someone so much. Shuffling around on the wooden floor a bit he noticed two things, his shoes been removed...and his bag was gone. 

Panic hit him, looking around with wide eyes, wanting to cry. “No...no…” He whimpered, voice hoarse. The building tears doing nothing to help his still struggled breathing. Most people would likely have called him stupid to be worried about something so material and superficial. But the contents of that bag were the last belongs of his husband. The only things he had of him. Something in the room shifted, like a game glitching. And then, there in front of the door on the floor was a small, purple bunny plush. The brunette gasped in relief, running and grabbing it, hugging it to his chest as he sat on his knees sobbing. 

The door opened slightly, gaining his attention. Jasper swallowed thickly, still hugging the toy, he stood slowly and wandered out. He thought he would be in a house, but suddenly he was in a field of sunflowers, the evening sun shining, the scene looked warm, but the air was cold as ice. “What-?!” He glanced back, the door he had come through was gone. Looking ahead through the flowers he saw a barn and approached it cautiously, shouldering the large doors open and looking around the interior of the straw strewn building. He wasn’t alone, not exactly at least. Two figures, children, a boy and girl, were playing. “Come on Ruben, you can do it!” The girl said to the younger boy.

They were semi-clear, like ghosts. But they felt different...like a memory. He watched them play, feeling a fond smile turn up his lips, thinking of his own children that he would never see again. Wishing he could, just once more. Taking a shaky breath, he fought not to sob again. A sound outside caught his attention, people taking and something splashing the side of the barn. He smelled gasoline and his face went pale, rushing for the doors, but they slammed shut. “Hey, I think I hear kids in there…”

“I don’t hear anything.”

Jasper choked, trying to force out words, but it was like his voice wasn’t working. The barn was up in flames in seconds, he backed into the middle of the room, looking around. Again he spotted the kids, now above on a second level, the girl was forcing he burned brother out a window. “Come on Ruben! You have to climb!” She cried, finally getting him out before being consumed in flames. Jasper could only think how badly he felt for them, somewhere beyond his current panic. He managed to get up there, jumping to reach the seal. 

Hoisting himself out he landed in...the house?! “What…? How?!” Taking as deep a breath as he could, he coughed a bit, hugging the rabbit till his breathing calmed again. “Okay...I’m okay…” He mumbled, wishing he had his inhaler. But it had been in his bag. The brunette looked around, he had several directions to explore, noticing open doors on either side of this room bast the stairs. He hummed thoughtfully, taking the door on the left. He discovered a dining room and beyond a kitchen. Past that?

Jasper found more memories. This one, to his disgust included Jimenez. He was talking to the boy from before, but at this time Ruben bore no injuries. ‘This must have been before the fire then?’ 

“What are you doing here?” The younger Ruben asked, glaring at Jimenez. “Is this...what did you call it? Your ‘Inner Sanctum’?” The doctor questioned with a snake like smile.  “A research lab of your own? I’m impressed Ruben. “Why are you back? I didn’t give you permission to come here.” Ruben pointed out firmly, shuffling a bit, clearly wanting to force the man out but he was too small and weak to fight a grown man. “Come now. We are men of science. Men of science are dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge.”  Jimenez’s smile made Jasper stomach twist, “You can show me your experiments. I can show you things…”

Ruben tried again, looking nervous, “You wouldn’t like them. You’d think they’re gross.”

“In science one must do a number of things...a person may find ‘disgusting’.” Jimenez came back with, seeming unworried, “I’ve done many things others would consider...distasteful.” The young boy looked frustrated, “You think I’m some kind of monster.” The doctor shook his head, “You concern yourself so much with your appearance. But that mind of yours...that’s all that matters.”

The memories vanished. “What about his feelings? His health? Those things matter too Jimenez...You really are the worst type of doctor.” The brunette heaved a sigh, moving out into the foyer again, deciding to try the right door now. Only he was sent somewhere else again, for a moment at least. He noticed a hole in the walls that changed from wood and wallpaper to brick. Peeking in he spotted Ruben, no doubt, a bit a older and wearing dirty bandages. He was seated in a wheelchair, hunched over a table reading. The room wasn’t furnished well and had no windows, it looked like a prison cell. ‘Did they lock him up…? That’s...horrible…’

Backing from the hole, he hugged his toy for comfort, turning to look down the hall as it changed back. He followed it, but it suddenly became a dead in. Jasper wondered why, but returned back. ‘Okay...upstairs then?’ Upstairs he discovered a memory in a bedroom, Reben standing over the bodies of two others.

“I wish you knew how satisfying the look on your face is father.” Ruben said, “Did you actually think...if you locked me away I would just cease to exist? Out of sight out of mind?...You did, didn’t you? Well you were never out of my mind.” The teen went on to say, sounding a little crazed, “I hope your proud of yourselves.”

Looking around more Jasper discovered a music room and yet another memory of Ruben and that rat Jimenez. “The hospital has not received its usual donation from your family this year.” The doctor sounded upset, Ruben kept playing quietly at the piano as he spoke, “And why would they? Has the hospital done anything worthy of a donation?” Jimenez looked offended, “The Victoriano family has always been a generous contributor.” After a minute the doctor looked around, “Where are your parents?”

“They have gone away.” Ruben replied, only Jasper catching the small smirk on his lips. “When do you expect them back…?” Jimenez asked hopefully, Ruben got frustrated and slammed his hands down on the piano. “Is there something you want to discuss doctor?”

“I came to inform you the hospital will no longer be able to provide you with assistance...materials. Your research will very quickly disintegrate.” Ruben looked pissed, “How dare you come into my home and threaten me…” The memories vanished again. 

‘Ruben...Jimenez was using him, but for what end?’ The room changed, he was shown other memories now. One included Leslie, Ruben, no, Ruvik needed him for some special purpose. The more memories he was shown the more he understood and more he felt bad for the man. Yes, sure, he had done some terrible things. But that was a matter of perspective wasn’t it? All science was learned through terrible things, Jimenez wasn’t wrong about that. One of the last memories made Jasper almost sick…

So far he had learned they were inside some kind of machine of Ruvik’s design, a virtual world where their minds were connected in a way. But here he discovered that these people, Mobius wanted the machine for their own purpose and tried to force Ruvik to give it to them. He refused of course...and they killed him for it. Took his brain.

“It’s how their running STEM now...with my brain at the core.” Came that deep voice from the memories, or so he thought, not realizing someone stood now behind him. “That’s...horrible...they murdered you for this? It’s amazing, sure...the possibilities are endless...But killing you and trapping you here? That’s cruel.”

“I’m glad you see it my way…”

Jasper froze, realization hitting him as he turned around slowly, looking at the hooded man who stood a few feet away. The room changed again. He was back in the bedroom he had woken in. “The only escape I have is through Leslie...his mind and mine sync perfectly. I can take his body and leave here.” The brunette stared thoughtfully at Ruvik a long time, he seemed to be waiting for a reply. “And...what will happen to Leslie? His consciousness I mean…?” 

“He will be protected in the recesses of my own consciousness, you need not worry.” Jasper nodded, satisfied with the answer. “Tell me what to do…” Ruvik narrowed his eyes, “You don’t want anything for helping me…?” He watched the brunette walk to the window and look out at the false moon. “What do you mean? Your giving me a purpose. You’ve made me want to survive, if only for a little longer to help someone else.” Jasper smiled sadly, “It makes me feel a little less worthless...What more could I ask for?”


	5. Chapter 5

“As it stands there isn't much you can do until your condition improves…” He pointed out, walking to a wardrobe and opening it slightly, glancing at the other a moment. Again watching him with curiosity as he turned to look at him, though it lasted only a second as he seemed clearly embarrassed. “I’ve...never been very athletic thanks to the asthma...Sorry.” He sighed heavily, which ended in a fit of coughs. Once he managed to stop and catch his breath again, wheezing a bit as he asked in a hoarse voice, “Once I’m more recovered, what do I need to do to help?”

Ruvik stayed at the far end of the room, near the empty fireplace, “Exactly what you’ve been doing already...I need you to protect Leslie.” He replied, looking at the empty hearth. A fire sprung to life, which he stepped back from warily. He only started if because he had taken note of the other man's shivering. “The Mobius agents in here and Jimenez have already figured out I’m after him...They will do anything to keep us apart.” Jasper nodded quietly as he approached the fire, hugging his rabbit and soaking in as much warmth as he dared. Too hot or too cold and his asthma would worsen. It was probably the terrible cold in this world that caused the attack to start with.

“I wouldn’t trust those policemen either with Leslie…” Jasper mumbled softly, staring into the flames. Ruvik was silent for several minutes, “Is there anyone you trust?” 

The brunette swallowed thickly, “No.” He answered in a quiet voice, “Not since…” Jasper bit his lower lip harshly as he hugged that toy tighter, tears building in his eyes. “This isn’t even the real one…” He said in a broken amused way, clearly trying to lighten his own mood and failing as he shook the stuffed animal a little. The scared man tilted his head, eyes again curious. Though, deep in the golden depths was a hint of sadness and pity. “How did you lose them?”

Jasper’s face darkened as he looked into the fire, feeling that strong urge to throw himself in. “I was out talking to my publisher about a book I would have published soon...and I got a call from the fire department that our house had caught fire.” He took in a shaking breath, tears slipping down his pale cheeks, “They...they couldn’t even be identified...it had to be through dental records.” The brunette let out a small noise of anguish, slipping to sit on his knees, legs feeling weak. “I lost everything in a matter of seconds...Jason was...he was my whole world. He inspired me. Challenged me. Gave me reason...And then he was just...gone.” Anger boiled in him as he sat there, slamming his fist a few times into the floor, ignoring the pain it caused him, “I had just seen him an hour earlier! Everything was fine! They weren’t even cooking or doing anything with heat! Our house had no rats or mice to chew wires! There was no reason for it!” He shouted, “We didn’t even live near anyone! It...It’s not right! And the police said they couldn’t find a source!? Nothing about it made sense!” The brunette choked, coughing violently as the sobs worsened his breathing all over again. 

Ruvik, honestly, felt for the man. Knowing and understanding what it felt like for fire to take everything you loved. He said nothing, he knew no words could ever quench the anguish eating this man alive. “If...you can help me get Leslie and escape this place…” He started, not looking at the man on the floor, though he could feel Delta’s eyes on him. “I will try to help you find peace.”

Jasper stared at the scared man, eyes wide. Wondering exactly what he meant, but not finding the words to even ask. Either way he would accept it, anything to take away some of this pain. 

The brunette didn’t know how much time passed before Ruvik deemed him well enough to look for Leslie again, though the man did not stay long after his promise. In fact the only reason Jasper knew it was time was because of the pulse in the room and the door opening. He slipped through, finding himself in what looked to be catacombs. Almost letting out a relieved shout when he spotted his bag. Putting it over his shoulder, he smiled wide, mumbling a ‘thank you’ as he put his toy inside. Next to where his bag had been was that old kitchen knife, which he smiled at and grabbed as well. Walking through the dimly lit halls with his flashlight to see better, keeping an ear out for those things. 

After a bit he caught the sound of people talking, moving a little faster when he recognized one voice, “...get you...get you...get you!” Coming around a corner he spotted Leslie, “Hey!” Jasper called out, rushing over to the shuffling whitette and checking him over for injuries, finding none, he let out a relieved sigh. “Leslie...It’s okay! I’m here…”

“Here...here...here…HERE!”

There was a high pitched sound, like the one at the shore, it filled his ears and pain bloomed in his body. The brunette cried out, curling in on himself, feeling that horrible urge to want to slit his own throat with the knife in his hands. Shaking, he felt himself bring it to his own neck and press down. And then, just like that it was over.

The sound stopped, the pain ceased and Leslie was hugging him, the knife on the ground next to him. “No...no...no…” Jasper relaxed after a few minutes, taking comfort from the warm hug. “I’m okay now...Sorry to scare you Leslie.”

A soft click made the brunette look up, seeing a woman with a gun pointed at his head. She looked normal, with plain black hair and what seemed to be nice clothes. “Sorry...but I can’t risk you turning into one of those things…” Jasper stared at here, holding his breath. What should he do?! He wasn’t armed now and even if he had been that knife wouldn’t have gotten him far. He watched as he pulled back on the trigger, hearing Leslie mumbling against him. 

“Help...help...I won’t let you die here.”

The brunette’s hazel green eyes widened further as the whitette’s voice shifted in depth from light to dark in a second. He sounded just like Ruvik. The corridor pulsed with energy, the woman looking around in alarm. There was a loud banging somewhere behind Jasper, heavy footsteps rushing toward them. The woman fired her gun at whatever it was, but it did nothing to stop it as it chased her down and away from the Leslie and Jasper.

The brunette let out a shaky breath, slowly getting to his feet and helping Leslie to stand. He held the younger man’s hand as he lead him down the corridor in the opposite direction, keeping a wary eye out for anything dangerous. He eventually found their way out of the catacombs and back into a small, abandoned village. Well he thought it was abandoned til a group of those things wandered out of some buildings ahead of them. There were only four or five, but even still they posed a large threat to the pair. Jasper ducked down behind some crates with Leslie, whispering for him to stay quiet. 

He tried to think of what to do, watching those things shuffle about. For now they seemed almost docile. But he knew, within reason, they wouldn’t be when they saw them. A sound in a house to his right made him look over, recognizing the Sadist familiar grunts and growls. ‘I wonder…’

“Leslie...don’t move okay? Your safe right here for a minute.” He told the whitette, before sneaking over to the house and slipping in to the crumbling structure. To his delight the Sadist was indeed there, it stopped when it saw him, stared like before. “Hey big guy...you wanna use that chainsaw right?” He asked, watching the creature seem to comprehend and look at the weapon, shaking it a bit and grunting. “Okay...good. I uh...I bet if you stick with me you can find that detective guy and get back at him for killing you earlier…”

The creature made a loud sound that seemed to approval, startling the brunette who backed up a bit nervously, “Woah! Woah, chill a minute!” The Sadist paused, staring again. “You gotta protect me and my friend though. Think you can do that?” It let out a feral sound and revved his weapon, shaking the heavy thing in the air and heading for the door. It waited for Jasper to follow, before going outside and immediately targeting the zombies shambling nearby. The brunette blinked, ‘That worked better than I figured…’ He thought, going to retrieve Leslie and following the Sadist as it cut a path through the creatures for them.

He felt optimistic he could get Leslie to Ruvik safely this way, at least...till Jimenez showed up again. They were running through the trees when a gunshot made Jasper jerk to a stop, putting Leslie behind him and looking around. The Sadist let out a yell, rushing to the left, several more shots and the big guy went down like a stone. The doctor walked out from the blind stop behind a tree, looking at them. “Oh, its good to see you both! I’ve been worried.”

The brunette glared, “Yeah...I bet you have.” The elder man titled his head as he approached them slowly, “You seem like your not happy to see me Mr. Heartly. You know I only want what’s best for you both.”

“Do you? Or are you more concerned with your precious experiment? Bet Mobius plans to end you if you fail right?” Jimenez narrowed his eyes at Jasper as the world shifted again, leaving them in Beacon again. “How much do you know?”

The brunette looked around, trying to spot an escape route, “Enough to know your a scum-ball and an accessory to murder…” He replied, level his eyes on the doctor again, shuffling Leslie toward a door that was partly open. “I had no control over what they did to Ruben.”

“Didn’t you? Your the reason Mobius found out. Your the one who broke into his safe and tried to steal his research.”

“Ruben is a murderer himself Mr. Heartly. Surely you're not taking pity on a homicidal maniac.” Jimenez said, clearly trying to reason with him. “Your the one who supplied him with people. And his parents deserved way worse in my opinion for locking him like they did. He needed them and they abandoned him. You used him.”

“Please give me Leslie…”

Jasper shook his head, glaring at the man, “Over my dead body…” The other man leveled his gun on the brunette, “Very well then. I really was hoping to get us both out Mr. Heartly...But, it looks like your going to die here.” The brunette turned quickly, pushing Leslie through the door, “RUN!” The whitette did, rushing away as fast as he could. A gunshot went off, pain blooming in the side of Jasper’s head before the world went blank.

  



	6. Chapter 6

“He’s our way out detective...Our only way out.”

Jasper opened his eyes slightly, temple pounding, he reached up to touch the spot and his fingers came away red and sticky. A little groan left him as he managed to take a look at the area around him. They were in a fair sized room, Leslie was laying on some kind of table and looked to be asleep. Jimenez was walking around to a console behind the whitette. There was a clicking sound and then pain exploded through the brunette. He cried out, curling up. Somewhere he could hear poor Leslie scream in agony too. 

It was that high pitched sound again. The one that made him want death even more earlier. Pain ate at his arms and his head where the wound was. Then it was over, leaving him dizzy, sick, and sore. His vision was a bit blurry as he looked up, seeing Sebastian helping Leslie up off the table. The younger man was crying as he shuffled over to Jasper now, the detective close behind. Shakily, the brunette pulled Leslie into a hug once he managed to stand. He felt unsteady.

“That’s it...that’s why...He wants the same thing as us! He wants out!” Jimenez said as this massive monster crawled toward him, lifting a paw and crushing him in an instant. The shockwave sent the rest of them flying, Jasper crying out again.

He landed hard in a completely different place, panting heavily as he managed to get to his feet again. Leslie was shuffling around nearby. “Come...on. We need to figure out where to go…”

“Go? Go?”

“That’s right…” Jasper replied as he took the young mans hand and lead him through what was now a crumbling city street, “Ruvik is going to help us...so we need to find him okay?”

“Okay...okay...okay…”

They wandered through the streets a long time before Jasper actually spotted enemies, planning for them to simply sneak around, but a gunshot went off. The brunette looked back, spotting that woman again, “Leslie run!” He cried, pushing the boy into an open building doorway. They ran through to a back room and out into an alley. “Come back!” The woman shouted as she chased them down, firing more shots that thankfully missed. But Jasper’s luck ran out when a shot hit him in the right leg, making him scream and stumble. He rolled a bit across the ground, yelling again at the pain as he grabbed his thigh. Leslie, thankfully, kept running. ‘Fuck...Ruvik I’m sorry...I hope that was enough time.’ He thought as he lifted pain hazed eyes on the woman who now stood over him as she reloaded and leveled the barrel of the gun on him again. “It’s nothing personal. But your just getting in the way and...lets face it, your only going to put Leslie in danger.”

She pulled the trigger, the sound echoed. “NO!” Jasper shouted, a shock wave pulsing outward from where he was. Startling him and knocking the raven woman backward. The bullet stuck him in the shoulder, he grit his teeth, grabbing the spot. He managed to get up, limping away as quickly as he could. He managed to find a place to hide, panting weakly as he leaned against a wall, staring up at the blue sky. ‘Shit...not like this…’ He smirked a little, realizing he kept saying or thinking that same sentence. ‘Funny how it works...a few months ago I wanted this...now I’m not fucking ready.’

There was movement in front of him, drawing his attention. Ruvik appeared there, walking over to him. Wordlessly he knelt down, pulling out this weird looking double needle syringe and injecting it into him. Seconds later the pain from the gunshots ebbed, the bleeding stopped, and when he looked at the holes they were gone all together. Jasper smirked, “Damn...you can create miracles too? Are you secretly an angel?” Ruvik’s eyes went wide as he lifted them to look at the brunette, watching him roll his shoulder to loosen it back up. 

“I lost track of Leslie thanks to that crazy lady…” He mumbled in annoyance, “She thinks I’m going to hurt him for some reason.” The brunette got to his feet, Ruvik doing the same. Seeming to have gotten control of his expression again. “I can’t imagine why she would assume your a threat...you don’t exactly look it-?!” 

Jasper grabbed his head, groaning, he could hear that sound again. Louder than ever. “Fuck...make it stop!” He cried, falling to his knees. Blood dripping from his nose and mouth. Ruvik felt a stirring in his gut, something like...fear? No...not exactly. Worry? Was he worried? He watched the brunette, saw the blite develop on the right side of his face starting at his temple. He was becoming lost...The scared man debating, should he just let him become a lost monster like countless others or…? Ruvik’s expression turned hard as he lifted a hand toward the man, sending out a wave of power, digging into his mind. 

‘I can still use him…’ He reasoned as he stopped the degradation as much as he could, watching as the shorter man calmed. “What...what is happening to me Ruvik…?” He asked as he lifted trembling fingers to push the sleeves of his hospital issued sweater up to see the blit forming from the scars on his inner arms. “Your mind is degrading, becoming lost like those other people in here. If we don’t hurry you’ll end up like one of them forever.”

Jasper felt his heart sink, nodding slowly. “Then I guess I better find Leslie as soon as possible.” Ruvik shook his head, “Go back to the hospital. You’ve done more than enough here...We’ll be ending this soon.” The brunette made a face, “What?! No! I’m not going to just sit back and wait! I said I would help protect Leslie.” Ruvik turned his head a little, though the shorter man couldn’t see his face for the hood. “Then head to the hospital...It’s where he’s going.” Jasper frowned, but did as he was asked, letting out a sigh as Ruvik vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a random thought I'd add for those of you here who don't follow my DA page, I actually know someone exactly like Leslie Whithers [His name is Leslie as well.] He's a sweetheart and a precious baby and I would and do go out of my way to see to his safety and happiness~


End file.
